Industry rock gods - and goddesses - go head-to-head to find construction's best band
Harvey Canary is in a frenzy. 鈥淐REDIT CRUUUUNNCH! 鈥淚t鈥檚 the CREEH - DIT - CRUNCH!鈥� he screams, hurling carrots into the crowd and leaping up and down. He鈥檚 got crazy hair, stars on his shirt and fluorescent orange braces 鈥� he鈥檚 clearly a contractor on the edge.
Not since Elton John鈥檚 Candle in the Wind has a song so captured the mood of the nation.
Welcome to construction鈥檚 very own Battle of the Bands event, live from The Gymnasium opposite St Pancras station in central London.
As Bauhaus, Village People and Bob the Builder could attest, there is a well-trammelled path between construction and rock and roll. And even if few of the industry鈥檚 bands make the big time, there are countless surveyors, construction managers and architects in garages across Britain come Sunday afternoon howling soft-rock covers as if their day jobs didn鈥檛 exist.
Tonight, the event, a charity do, is so well subscribed that organiser WSP has had to 鈥渞e-fire-engineer鈥� the venue to extend the capacity to 350 people, each contributing a tenner to the Chinese Earthquake Appeal and a King's Cross youth charity, The Copenhagen Project.
The event has been masterminded by WSP director Bill Price and BAA鈥檚 head of technology Nigel Fraser, but they've marshalled support and expertise from enthusiasts across the industry. Argent have donated the venue, and joint chief executive Roger Madelin is dryly compering proceedings. Paul Nicholson, head of architecture at Lend Lease, has not only arranged and paid for a mighty lighting rig above the stage, but is manning it on the night to great effect. And Peter Ball, Costain's technology manager, is running the stage and strictly enforcing each band's 12-minute timeslot. Punctuality is almost as important as a tight rhythm section this evening, and the judges have been asked to award a prize for the not-very-rock-and-roll achievement of Most Organised Band.
Tonight's acts are drawn from companies across construction - some have been playing together for years, others have only a few hours rehearsal time under their belts. There is a lot of stone-washed denim, black T-shirts galore 鈥� comedy slogan optional 鈥� and many, many puns. WSP鈥檚 own two in-house bands are called Public M&E and Wild Sex Party. Bickerdike Allen Partners have The BAP Band. Two firms went for an AC/DC pun, but Chapman Bathurst鈥檚 AC/CB have clearly won the backstage tussle because MDA have renamed themselves 鈥淎nother Brick鈥�.
Harvey Canary is the mysterious singer of Canary Wharf Contractors鈥� Canary Wolf. The punk-loving Wolves are also the most desperate to impress our panel of music industry judges 鈥� they鈥檝e already been on Chinese television, now they want a contract.
The judges themselves have an intimidating pedigree. Neil Pyzer is a veteran session musician who plays with Geno Washington's Ram Jam Band, Stuart Clarke is in charge of putting new acts in the pages of industry bible Music Week, and Pia Ashcroft and Lou Alchamaa are genuine A&R talent-spotters for record company Sony BMG. They veer between offering encouragement, slightly withering put-downs and genuine bemusement.
There鈥檚 much to play for. Not only is there the glimmer of a chance of a brand new music industry career, there is also a very desirable sound system donated by Sound Technology.
But when the judges have watched all the bands and deliberated over their scoresheets, there鈥檚 a rather embarrassing conclusion鈥� Wild Sex Party, Price鈥檚 own band, are declared the hands-down winner for their blistering covers of The Killers, The Strokes and Talking Heads.
A rather sheepish Price declares that the prize will be shared between all the bands 鈥� any of the evening鈥檚 performers will be able to use the speakers for forthcoming gigs, they just have to collect them from WSP鈥檚 London HQ.
The runners up are Bickerdike Allen鈥檚 BAP Band in second place, Arup鈥檚 OvaTones are delighted to win the best new band prize for groups formed especially for the event, and 厂鈥橝谤驳别苍迟 from 鈥� you鈥檝e guessed it 鈥� Argent are deemed 鈥渕ost organised鈥� band for workman-like approach to punctuality and a swift and efficient exit from the stage.
But does fame beckon? Read on for biopics of the bands.
The Bands: line-ups, the songs and the verdict
厂鈥橝谤驳别苍迟 (Argent)
LINE UP: Tony Giddings 鈥� singer, Andre Gibbs 鈥� guitar, Joanna Facer 鈥� drums, Prabha Rathinasabapathy 鈥� keyboards, Will Colthorpe - bass
SET LIST: I shot the sheriff, Hey Joe
WHAT THEY SAY: 鈥淛o鈥檚 a really good rock 鈥榥鈥� roll, indie drummer, our bassist鈥檚 more into drum and bass. It鈥檚 quite hard to reflect how eclectic we are in a two-song set though. Our song choices were determined by what we could all play. We wanted things that were easy but not too boring.鈥�
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID: 鈥淭he lead guitar and the vocals were good but the backing vocals were a bit weak鈥� You could have looked like you were enjoying it a bit more, especially the bass player.鈥�
Canary Wolf (Canary Wharf Contractors)
LINE UP: Harvey Canary 鈥� vocals, Telvis 鈥� lead guitar, Ben Skins 鈥� drums, Scoot 鈥� sax, The Grey Wolf 鈥� bass
SET LIST: Credit Crunch, Never drink on an empty Head, Long war home
WHAT THEY SAY: 鈥淲e invented the 鈥淏ritish crunch鈥� sound inspired by the credit crunch. We also have songs about road rage and binge drinking and the Serbian War and we were on Chinese television. We do all our own stuff 鈥� we started off doing covers but we couldn鈥檛 play them, they were too hard.鈥�
www.myspace.com/canarywolf
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID: 鈥淏ags of enthusiasm, bags of energy. It was certainly a spectacle.... Not sure the songs are particularly good though. But we definitely like the moustache.鈥�
Public M&E (WSP Group)
LINE UP: Simon Leonard 鈥� guitar, Pierre Klemas 鈥� bass, Temisan Hawkes-Jones 鈥� singing, Margarita Redondo 鈥� keyboards, John Wardle 鈥� drums, Adam Lane 鈥� guitar
SET LIST: Long train running 鈥� The Doobie Brothers, Times like these 鈥� Foo Fighters
WHAT THEY SAY: 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 sum our sound up in words. We鈥檙e going to play a ten-minute non-stop musical feast. We are playing songs but they鈥檙e just the sandwiches in the feast鈥� We have played a few gigs. I say a gig, actually it was one of Simon鈥檚 kid鈥檚 primary school fair.鈥�
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID: 鈥淔oo Fighters with a girl singing 鈥� cool. Strong choices, although it fell apart a little bit on the second number. Great sound, vocals were a bit low level though.鈥�
The Instigators (HLM/Scott Brownrigg)
LINE UP: Chris Liddle 鈥� lead guitar, vocals, Graham Harvey-Browne 鈥� bass, Mike Warren - rhythm guitar & vocals, Roger Matthews 鈥� rhythm guitar, vocals and harmonica, Justin 鈥淭he Stick鈥� 鈥� drums
SET LIST: Echo Beach 鈥� Martha and the Muffins, Suffragette City - David Bowie
WHAT THEY SAY: 鈥淲e鈥檙e fast. We have very few slow numbers. In fact, I can鈥檛 remember the last time we played a slow song.鈥�
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID: 鈥淚f I had an after party or a wedding, I鈥檇 probably want you to play it. They were the best song choices so far, what everyone wanted to hear. The harmonica playing was incredible. It felt like you meant it.鈥�
AC/CB (Chapman Bathurst)
LINE UP: David Fox 鈥� lead guitar, Lisa Cahalan 鈥� backing vocals, Holly Hassan 鈥� backing vocals, Catriona Myles 鈥� backing vocals, Andy Salt 鈥� bass, Chris Demwell 鈥� lead vocals, Mark Holliday 鈥� drums
SET LIST: Tainted Love 鈥� Soft Cell, You really got me 鈥� The Kinks, Smells like teen spirit - Nirvana
WHAT THEY SAY: 鈥淥ur sound is a different take on established bands. It鈥檚 our version of things you already know. It鈥檚 kind of on the rock-y side. How hard do we rock? Very! It鈥檚 very noisy and out of control.鈥�
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID: 鈥淎 lot of energy and enthusiasm, but you did play a little bit too long. It was a bit sloppy though and I don鈥檛 really think you can cover Nirvana to be honest. That tambourine shaking was top class and the backing singers were great.鈥�
Ova Tones (Arup)
LINE UP: Phil Nedin, drums, Ben Richardson 鈥� keyboards, Bill Groise 鈥� guitar, Matt Harrison 鈥� bass, Karen Patey 鈥� singer, Mike Quint 鈥� sax, James Davison 鈥� guitar + vocals
SET LIST: Valerie 鈥� Mark Ronson/Amy Winehouse version, Proud Mary 鈥� Creedence Clearwater Revival
WHAT THEY SAY: 鈥淲e鈥檙e kind of soul meets funk meets cheese... we鈥檙e R鈥橬鈥橞 when it used to meet rhythm & blues. We just want people stamping their feet. Karen almost had a recording contract you know. But we only formed two months ago and we鈥檝e probably had ten hours of practice.鈥�
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID: 鈥淭hat was the first time you performed together? Great performance, good choice of songs. You got the crowd dancing, we really felt the energy.鈥�
Another Brick (Monk Dunstone Associates)
LINE UP: Peter Broadhead 鈥� drums 鈥渁nd the odd backing vocal鈥�, Matt Harding 鈥� bass and backing vocals 鈥渋f I dare鈥�, David Helm 鈥� guitar, Rob Kennedy 鈥� guitar and singing
SET LIST: Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd, Gimme all your loving 鈥� ZZ Top
WHAT THEY SAY: 鈥淲e鈥檝e never played before together as a band. We鈥檝e had one practice in my front living room and one in Rob鈥檚 kitchen and two more. Our sound is probably sort of Southern rock 鈥� southern America, yes. Although it鈥檚 probably more rock to be honest 鈥� we鈥檙e from the Midlands and that鈥檚 where rock was invented of course.鈥�
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID: 鈥淚t was a good solid performance. We really liked the drumming. But we did get a bit bored towards the end.鈥�
The BAP Band (Bickerdike Allen Partners)
LINE UP: Ed Weston 鈥� drums, Laura Jellicoe 鈥� Alto sax, Lesley Turner 鈥� alto sax, Arthur Lewis-Nunes 鈥� trumpet, John Miller 鈥� bass, Peter Henson 鈥� keyboards, Roger Kelly 鈥� vocals, Theo Niaounakis 鈥� lead guitar
SET LIST: Knock on wood 鈥� Eddie Floyd, Will you be my teddy bear? 鈥� Elvis Presley
WHAT THEY SAY: 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to be bigger than Same Difference. Or North South 鈥� no, we鈥檙e going to be bigger than that boyband called Orange something. But maybe not as big as Take That.鈥�
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID: 鈥淧robably the best performance of the night musically. Tight, great arrangement.鈥�
Wild Sex Party (WSP Group)
LINE UP: Nick Hubbard - Lead vocal, Jonathan Walter 鈥� Guitar, Dave Maundrill 鈥� Drums, Peter Townsend (not that one) - Keys and backing vocal, Bill Price 鈥� Bass
SET LIST: All these things that I鈥檝e done 鈥� The Killers, Last Night 鈥� the Strokes, Psychokiller 鈥� Talking Heads
WHAT THEY SAY: 鈥淲e鈥檙e kind of like Gordon Lightfoot on steroids. We鈥檙e sponsored by Mr Kipling. Well, we always have cakes when we rehearse in Bill鈥檚 shed anyway and generally it鈥檚 Mr Kipling. Last year we did a world tour 鈥� we got as far as Hammersmith, East Sheen and Leatherhead.鈥�
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID: 鈥淵ou were the one band I wanted to keep playing. Excellent choice of songs. All I have to say is 鈥榚ncore鈥欌��
HIghlights of Battle of the Bands
Video: Credit Crunch by Canary Wolf
Postscript
If you'd like to buy a DVD of the event, please email Bill Price at Bill.Price@WSPGroup.com. All proceeds will go to the event's charities, the Chinese Earthquake Appeal and The Copenhagen Project.
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